Waterloo

American  

[waw-ter-loo, wot-er-, waw-ter-loo, wot-er-, vah-tuhr-loh] / ˈwɔ tərˌlu, ˈwɒt ər-, ˌwɔ tərˈlu, ˌwɒt ər-, ˈvɑ tərˌloʊ /

noun

1. a village in central Belgium, south of Brussels: Napoleon decisively defeated here on June 18, 1815.

2. a decisive or crushing defeat.

   The candidate met her Waterloo in the national elections.

3. a city in E Iowa.

4. a city in SE Ontario, in S Canada.

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Waterloo British  

/ ˌwɔːtəˈluː /

noun

1. a small town in central Belgium, in Walloon Brabant province south of Brussels: battle (1815) fought nearby in which British and Prussian forces under the Duke of Wellington and Blücher routed the French under Napoleon. Pop: 29 003 (2004 est)

2. a total or crushing defeat (esp in meet one's Waterloo )

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Waterloo Idioms  

1. see meet one's waterloo.

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Example Sentences

The major motorways that strike west from the capital bypass the county entirely; the trains from London Waterloo to the local station at Dorchester take a leisurely three hours.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 11, 2026

The study also involved Ruolin Liu, a PhD student at Waterloo and PI, and Dr. Jerome Quintin, a lecturer at l'École de technologie supérieure and a former postdoctoral researcher at Waterloo and PI.

From Science Daily • Mar. 30, 2026

When Jay Liang, 19, a sophomore at the University of Waterloo in Ontario, started working with Kalshi to recruit new users, he hired his classmate to make a social-media post.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 6, 2026

Studying an engineering degree at the University of Waterloo in her native Canada, Sullivan began watching the show with her sister in 2021.

From BBC • Mar. 4, 2026

Their lyrics were about love, heartbreak, guys named Fernando, and places called Waterloo.

From "Americanized" by Sara Saedi